Quantum Leap star Scott Bakula plays Captain Archer
in the new Star Trek franchise Enterprise. And
he's a man happy with a role which barring accident or a Klingon
attack will soon see him the focus of unprecedented public
interest. But Bakula seems to be relishing the prospect.

ReviewGraveyard: What's the big attraction for you of Enterprise?

Scott
Bakula: I believe that starting this show at the beginning
of the Star Trek universe is going to allow people
to keep putting that word out, that you don't need to have
seen the last seven or fourteen years to understand or enjoy
Enterprise. That is a big message we are trying to
get out there.

RG:
How's the new show going to differ from previous Star Trek
series?

SB:
On Enterprise, we have a great sense of where the show
will land, so we've had, before we've even started, a feeling
of the need to be ready from the get-go, because people are
going to be watching. And that adds a little bit more importance
to almost everything you do.

RG:
What attracted you to the Archer role?

SB:
What hooked me and brought me into the piece from the beginning
was the description of this character, who they wanted him
to be. He's much more in the Jim Kirk vein of Captains, an
emotional, heart-on-his-sleeve kind of guy. He makes mistakes,
he's brash in the face of authority at times, and he's not
afraid to say what he thinks. And I just thought if you are
approaching something over a long period of time, you want
as many character flaws and variables and anything you can
find emotionally interesting.

RG:
There's a real feel of frontier spirit on Enterprise,
so I've heard.

SB:
Everything doesn't work perfectly on the ship, so we are still
getting out a lot of the bugs, and there's a lot of frustration
involved with that. In episodes right now, there's a lot of
flying by the seat of their pants and a kind of unexpectedness,
which I think it going to be fun for the audience, because
there is nothing routine about what we are trying to do here
- it's all new.

RG:
You're not new to science fiction. You seem to be happy working
in the genre.

SB:
Science fiction has been a big part of my life for years now.
I loved it as a kid. I loved reading it and watching it, and
it is kind of ironic that a lot of the sci-fi work has come
my way. But I suppose when you are attracted to something
that often you attract it back.